8v53n oil leaks

[LENZ]

I have a 1972 43 dcmy w/8v53N's (1200 hours) and i'm noticing that on both motors they are leaking oil @ the valve covers towards the back. I want to replace the valve cover gaskets to see if this helps, any suggestions about installing new gaskets? should I silicone the gaskets to the valve covers and maybe use a non-hardening type of silicone where the gasket meets the head? One more thing, where is the most common spot on a Detroit Diesel to leak oil? any preventative maint I can do? Or do they all just leak? Trying to keep the bilge as clean as possible but every 4-5 hours of use I'm cleaning a quart or so out of the bilge PITA! (I really don't mind) but, If this is the nature of the beast then I have will just have to deal with it. A Bad day on the boat is still better then a good day at work!

Thanks in advance

Lenz

[Boatsb]

Mine perspire a quart of oil about every 20 hours. I will be the first to call mine leaky. If you loose a qt in 4 hours there may be other problems. Do you loose oil in the air box drains?

[Kaipua]

That sounds excessive. My 6v92's soak the blankets after 75 hours. They were recently surveyed by a detroit tech. He said most leakage can be stopped with the newer gasket materail and sealers. However leakage is common.

[MikeP]

It is common for DDs to leak but they don't have to. Most of the problem is caused by improper installation and over-tightening. Over tightening will warp the mating surface once they are warped, they won't seal properly. It is not just sheet metal parts like some valve covers that will warp. Heat exchanger mating surfaces are often warped due to overtightening.

Gobs of silicone is the common "solution" but it isn't a solution at all, causing all kinds of problems with the "squish" finding its way into places where it can cause major problems - from heat exchangers to engine oil passages.

Almost anything disassembled should be checked for trueness and if it isn't, needs to be reworked so it is. New gaskets, some of which don't need any sealer at all, should be used. Those that do will work fine with a conventional sealer like "Perfect Seal" which is an excellent gasket sealer/anti sieze as well. This is much better tha silicone which will also glue everything together.

Silicone is an excellent product. The problem is that it is terribly misused. If you are using it as a gasket sealer, it should be put on the gasket with the finger tip - just very thinly smeared on so there is no subsequent squish. There are applications where silicone is used to create the gasket. Again, this is appropriate as long as the specific directions are followed to create the gasket.

Neither of our 8V71Tis leak oil. They both have some areas where there is a light film of oil but they do not deposit any oil on anything. Engine diapers are unmarked by any sign of dripping. So I can promise that close attention to proper assembly and use of proper gasket material will result in an engine that is, for all practical purposes, leak free.

[neosin]

It is common for DDs to leak but they don't have to. Most of the problem is caused by improper installation and over-tightening. Over tightening will warp the mating surface once they are warped, they won't seal properly. It is not just sheet metal parts like some valve covers that will warp. Heat exchanger mating surfaces are often warped due to overtightening.

Gobs of silicone is the common "solution" but it isn't a solution at all, causing all kinds of problems with the "squish" finding its way into places where it can cause major problems - from heat exchangers to engine oil passages.

Almost anything disassembled should be checked for trueness and if it isn't, needs to be reworked so it is. New gaskets, some of which don't need any sealer at all, should be used. Those that do will work fine with a conventional sealer like "Perfect Seal" which is an excellent gasket sealer/anti sieze as well. This is much better tha silicone which will also glue everything together.

Silicone is an excellent product. The problem is that it is terribly misused. If you are using it as a gasket sealer, it should be put on the gasket with the finger tip - just very thinly smeared on so there is no subsequent squish. There are applications where silicone is used to create the gasket. Again, this is appropriate as long as the specific directions are followed to create the gasket.

Neither of our 8V71Tis leak oil. They both have some areas where there is a light film of oil but they do not deposit any oil on anything. Engine diapers are unmarked by any sign of dripping. So I can promise that close attention to proper assembly and use of proper gasket material will result in an engine that is, for all practical purposes, leak free.

You hit the nail on the head bud.. I finally got all my leaks fixed from the previous owners mistakes. Now my pads have just a mist and a simple pad change every 50 hours seems to work just fine.

[krush]

Hogwash...everybody knows a detroit leaks to tell you there is oil in it LOL

[MikeP]

No, it's British Bikes that do that. My 1971 Norton Commando leaked oil out of everything but the headlight. When it stopped leaking, there was no oil. Fortunately this didn't seem to make any difference in how it ran!

My current Commando (1973) with all my attention to everything I mentioned in the post re the DD gaskets, only leaks oil from the engine case joint at the bottom of the engine - a HUGE improvement!!! Wonder why the Brits decided that engine cases should be split vertically with a gasket in the middle whereas everyone else figured out that the vertical split made oil leakage far more likely than a horizontal split? Oh well, if they weren't what they were, there would be no nostalgia for them today!

[fishin Hatt]

DD are known to be leaky engines. If the leak is excessive then you should have it checked. If you have the time and energy and money to chase every little one down thats great,alot of us don't.

It is said, if a DD does not leak oil there is no oil in it.

[Captned]

Someone said... " If a Detroit is not leaking oil, it ain't running!"

Captned

[Boatsb]

I think they do leak when they are not running. My Bilge seems to prove that.